Armed conflict escalated into a full-scale war in Yemen in 2015, exacerbating already massive medical and humanitarian needs and severely restricting access to healthcare.

The Houthis continued to advance in 2015, taking over the presidential palace in Sanaa in January. President Hadi fled to Aden, and a Saudi-led coalition supporting his government began airstrikes to recover lost territory, including the port of Aden. Meanwhile, the war allowed Al Qaida and Islamic State (IS) group fighters to reinforce their presence in the country. By year’s end, the United Nations estimated that 2,800 people had been killed and some 2.5 million were internally displaced. The healthcare system has been decimated: medical staff have fled the country, facilities have been destroyed and medical supplies cut.

MSF managed to maintain its operations in Aden when it was divided by a frontline. In other areas it also scaled up its activities during 2015 as much as security allowed, despite an attack that destroyed the hospital it supports in Haydan, Sa’ada governorate, on 26 October and another on its tented clinic in Al-Houban, Taiz governorate, on 2 December, which wounded nine. A fuel blockade hampered the delivery of aid, while fighting, shifting frontlines and airstrikes restricted the movement of people and humanitarian organisations.